This course is a hands-on introduction to the creative aspects of successful social media marketing. It offers a short introduction to the foundations of social media and a deep dive into content strategy, content design and campaign tactics for social channels.

Students will gain valuable insights in how to conceptualise and implement social media marketing tactics from an organic and paid perspective.

The class will be accompanied by a group project, which will allow a practical application of the covered topics. The goal will be to create various social content assets for both organic and paid placements and present those to a fictional client.

Social Media Crash Course

• Introduction to mainstream & niche platforms (i.e. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, LinkedIn, and more)
• Editorial calendars, content planning & scheduling
• Audience & competitive research

Social Media Content Strategy

• Content types & formats for social media
• Messaging frameworks (Tone of Voice)
• Social media platform strategy

Social Media Content Design

• Design principles (typography, colour, images, etc.)
• Content prototyping
• Image, video & audio editing for social media
• Storytelling frameworks

Social Media Campaign Tactics

• Successful campaign structures
• State-of-the-art campaign tactics
• Full funnel approach
• Tools & tactics for successful social media campaigns (organic + paid)

With this course, students will be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to work efficiently with creative tools to create outstanding content for social media marketing initiatives. This should also enable students to collaborate better with creative agencies and to understand the workflows and working environments of such agencies.

After attending this course, students will be able to:

• Understand niche & mainstream social media channels
• Know how to create a content calendar
• Conduct audience & competitive research
• Use basic design principles for effective content design
• Apply prototyping to content design
• Use a variety of tools to create appealing creatives (image, video, and audio)
• Know how to apply storytelling
• Create concepts for successful paid media campaigns
• Understand the importance of full funnel campaigns
• Apply current tools and tactics for both paid and organic social media campaigns
• Work efficiently with creative agencies
• Understand common workflows and collaborate with different stakeholders

Since this is a highly interactive class, 100% presence in lectures is mandatory.

• Theoretical input by the instructor
• Discussions with a strong emphasis on student participation
• Self-directed learning (flipped classroom)
• Individual exercises
• Group project with presentations by students

• 20 % Active class participation
• 30 % Individual exercises
• 50 % Final presentation of group project